Ahead of the 2024 election and busy summer travel season, President Joe Biden announced over the weekend he will tap the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve in an effort to lower gas prices at the pump.
Gas prices are down $1.40 from their peak after Russia’s war, but they’re still too high.
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 28, 2024
My Administration is releasing 1 million barrels of gasoline from the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve ahead of July 4th, which will lower prices at the pump when folks need it the most.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre touted the move Tuesday afternoon during the daily briefing.
Karine Jean-Pierre brags about "lowering the price of gas" by "selling one million barrels of gasoline from the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve."
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 28, 2024
FACT: The nationwide average for gas remains ~50% higher than the day Biden took office. pic.twitter.com/tikV5PicbT
The Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve is supposed to be used in response to natural disasters or other emergencies that disrupt supplies, not to lower prices for political reasons.
In 2012, Superstorm Sandy made landfall in the northeastern United States and caused heavy damage to two refineries and left more than 40 terminals in New York Harbor closed due to water damage and loss of power. This left some New York gas stations without fuel for as long as 30 days. As part of the Obama Administration’s ongoing response to the storm, the Department of Energy established the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve (NGSR); the first federal, regional, refined petroleum product reserve containing gasoline
Creation of the emergency stock of gasoline was authorized by Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz on June 20, 2014. Secretary Moniz directed the Office of Petroleum Reserves to establish a one million barrel gasoline component of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the Northeast. The intent was to create a buffer large enough to allow commercial companies to compensate for the initial impacts of interruptions in supply, but not so large as to dissuade the companies from maintaining stock levels sufficient to respond to routine disruptions or to recognize that increasing prices are an indicator that more supply is needed. A one million barrel emergency reserve would give Northeast consumers supplemental supplies for a few days in the event of a hurricane or other disruption, until existing distribution infrastructure could return to full operation.
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